1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a braking system for a vehicle and a method for operating a braking system.
2. Description of Related Art
Published German patent application document DE 10 2007 016 864 A1 describes a braking system for a vehicle including an electromechanically boosted brake assembly and a pedal simulator which has the function of imparting a haptic brake sensation to the driver in an accustomed manner. The braking system is designed as a brake-by-wire system in which the movement of the brake pedal is detected by sensors, and control signals for operating an electric brake actuator in the brake assembly are generated via a regulating and control unit. Between the brake pedal and the brake assembly, there is a mechanical connection, although it is normally decoupled because of the design as a brake-by-wire system, and it becomes effective only in emergencies, for example, in the event of failure of the electromechanical brake force booster, in which the force exerted by the driver on the brake pedal functions as the actuating force for the brake assembly. In the normal case, however, the pedal force generated by the driver is not converted into a brake force.
The travel distance of the brake pedal between the pedal simulator and the brake assembly is distributed by way of a branching device. According to an embodiment variant specified in published German patent application document DE 10 2007 016 864 A1 the branching device is a transmission and distribution linkage to be operated by the brake pedal, including a guide component, which is connected to a rod of the pedal simulator as well as to the brake assembly and is adjusted by a coupling rod situated between the brake pedal and the guide component. The coupling rod is displaceably mounted in the guide component, the transmission to the pedal simulator and the brake assembly being controllable, depending on the position of the point of action of the coupling rod on the guide component.
Since the transmission and distribution linkage is fixedly connected to the adjusting rods of the pedal simulator and the brake assembly, the possibility that a travel distance is introduced into the pedal simulator and also into the brake assembly may not be ruled out in the case of a deflected position of the coupling rod connecting the guide component to the brake pedal.